I can't ignore it, have to address it, however I want to get it over quickly. I am still bemused and still cannot fathom it, how on earth did we manage to elect the toffs for another five years??? The Cons didn't have to do anything, Labour botched their chances looking like Con-Lite and lost political control of Scotland to the SNP without a scrap let alone a full blown fight. Mind you I don't fancy any politician's chances going head to head with Nicola Sturgeon, she pretty much won Scotland for the SNP single handedly, inspiring indeed. The Lib-Dem-Cons reaped the whirlwind of their Faustian pacts (hello Mr Cable or rather goodbye and good riddance). The only small consolation on election night was the look on Faraage Man's face when he on realised that he had failed to get elected...........again. His loss, despite being a Con win, also cheered me up as it demonstrated once and for all that if he couldn't get elected then his party is a spent force, sorry got that wrong, it never was a force in the first place, it was a passing wind of protest, in spite of the media's attempts to portray it as a viable political party.

I won't be supporting any electoral change to proportional representation, if we had this system we'd now be stuck with something like 50+ Faraage MPs and yet their support is centred in what is referred to as 'hot spots' and does not spread evenly over the UK. It strikes me they are the same areas that are ignored when it comes to encouraging investment and dishing out funds for regeneration, just thinking there could be a correlation. I think for PR to work you need a near 100% turn out and all demographics voting.......one can but dream.PS I know we would also have about 50+ Green MPs if we had PR however that doesn't convince me in itself that PR is a good idea. It's a Mad World.

Sorry that wasn't that quick, on to pleasanter subjects-

We had a couple of days away round and about Newmarket, Suffolk for the Guineas meeting.

Of course we got lost on the way, in a very small area, very close to our
destination, Arran House Stud, Kennett, once again ignoring the directions I'd written as wholly implausible in practise. We stopped the only person we saw where it was safe to pull over and asked if he knew the way to Arran House Stud. Now, admittedly he did look like he'd enjoyed a long liquid lunch however he took us by surprise when he looked at us incredulously and replied “You’re way, way off course, you’re near Newmarket....in Suffolk.....England” So we did the sensible thing and phoned Arran House and the directions were right. Lesson learned? You sometimes have to go in what appears to be the wrong direction to go in the right direction.

Arran House Stud B & B Kennett Suffolk (very close to Newmarket)

I liked it here. A warm welcome awaits you at this gem of a B+B in the village of Kennett, just outside Newmarket, and it's well nigh perfect if you are interested in horses, racing, birds (wonderful display at dusk of the house martins nesting in the stables) and dogs, two very friendly and one slightly more human wary so more effort
needed to win over, they are kept out of guest areas for those not so
keen on mixing). We had a large en suite room overlooking the stables, it's up to you when you have your individually cooked breakfast, if that's what you have chosen, there is also a full selection of cereals, yoghurt, fruit, juices, tea and fresh coffee. The very yellow yolked eggs come courtesy of the hens out the back. Nearly forgot there is an indoor swimming pool as well. http://www.arranhousestud.co.uk/index.html

.......However, we didn't get to try it as Vic and I were starving and it was the other one that started serving first at 6.30pm. I don't like using the words should or but, but we really should have waited the extra half hour. Apart from anything else it took those thirty minutes to get our starters of asparagus and fried calamari to the table. The calamari was the most disgusting thing I have tasted since I inadvertently took a bite of and swallowed some practically raw liver (I got the translation wrong and it didn't look liver coloured having only been shown the shadow of a flame before serving). To say I detest liver is a gross understatement and the mere thought of it can elicit a gagging response and now calamari has been added to that category along with whelks. I forgot how truly vile overcooked, rubbery, fat rings of squid can be, in my minds eye they were going to be thin, tender hoops, fried at a high temperature in a crispy light batter for about 30 seconds, sadly not the receipt they followed, could not even chew my way through the first mouthful (and they were served on a piece of slate @WeWantPlates ) The only good thing I can say about the experience was we had a friendly and attentive waitress. I didn't complain, I have complained in restaurants before and will do again however I wasn't in the mood and sometimes there isn't any point, we won't be going back.

John Gosden's string returning from the gallops.

2000 Guineas Day
Cloudy with sunny spells but really nippy at times so opted for
woollens and lace ups, otherwise I would obviously have gone for high heels
and
a fascinator! Killing time before the races we drove and walked past
most of the Newmarket studs and stables, a particular treat was seeing
John Gosden's string returning to his yard

Frankie Dettori didn't win on this one.

I expected 2000 Guineas day to be more of an occasion, so I was a bit disappointed with the prevalent 'boys' day out/stag do atmosphere, seemed to be more interest in the bars than the racing. Winners were getting decidedly muted and short lived applause and cheers in the parade ring and enclosure, I thought it verged on the rude, even the Guineas winner Gleneagles, ridden by Bryan Moore and trained by Aiden O'Brien didn't get what I would call a rousing reception.My mood may have been affected by the fact that out of the four bets I placed three came last and the only one I did to win came second. Below is the closing seconds of the 2000 Guineas (at least someone won!)

VG & SS Live News

16th May - Thanks to Chris Wave for putting on another stonker of a Seventh Wave night at The Flapper Birmingham with The Cravats and Church of Elvis. This was the first VG & Subway Sect outing of 2015 with Ian Holford back on drums and still liking the four piece 'sound' with Vic on guitar. Lovely to see so many familiar friendly faces including Shelley and Phil and Tracey and Lee. Speaking of whom........many thanks to Phil & Shelley for the photographs : https://flic.kr/p/tkMoB4 and to Tracey and Lee for the videos, including the new song 'I'll Find Out Over Time' which Vic and the Sect debuted at The Flapper. More of Tracey and Lee's Sect and Cravats videos from the night can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/leefact25/videos

Vic's changed the key since the gig! I thought a bit of a 'New Seekers' vibe crept in at The Flapper however Vic was reassured by this tweet: "Had this as an earworm since Saturday. @vic_godard closed his set with a new tune, which kinda reminded me of it"— David N May 18, 2015

Birmingham is a city I feel right at home in as soon as I arrive, quite probably because it 'feels' like London. We stayed at City Nites, an aparthotel with very secure parking, practically spitting distance from The Flapper (however this didn't stop us going astray on the two minute drive to the venue). Extraordinarily quiet, very accommodating and helpful staff, we asked for and got a balcony apartment and extra bed (for which there is a charge, fair enough), they also do a breakfast pack which we didn't have. It is a very reasonable option for five, including the charges for the extra bed and car parking, for a city centre location even factoring in breakfast costs. I definitely recommend, it's unusual to be able to book an apartment for one night at the weekend, in any city and that's also got ample parking.http://www.city-nites.com/

Stop Press.....Wheatsheaf gig in Guardian Pick of the Week!UPDATE 24th May
Apart from the horrendous traffic on the M4/M40on the way toOxford it was an all round belter of a night at The Wheatsheaf with rousing sets from Les Clochards and Fishwife's Broadside and a stonker from Vic, Kev, Mark and Ian, all went down well with the appreciative crowd. Big Up to Joal the expert sound man at The Wheatsheaf. Thanks to 'Jane Barnes' for the fantastic videos including 'Somewhere In The World', the final encore which closed the set -

Friday 19th June 2015Sound of Young Scotland Film 'Big Gold Dream' Premieres at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Vic and the gnu are really looking forward to this trip, Vic's one of the guests taking part in a Q & A after the screening and then there's a very special after show show with a one off very special line up, think it will be one of the
highlights of the year. Vic on vocals/guitar, Russell Burn on drums, Douglas MacIntyre on bass and Malcolm Ross on guitar plus the tantalising prospect of more special guest appearances. Tickets on sale 27th May, keep an eye out for updates at: http://www.edfilmfest.org.uk/2015https://www.facebook.com/SOYSFilm?ref=ts&fref=tshttps://www.facebook.com/vic.godard.3

To celebrate VICLEKA, an exhibition of works A M Leka and Vic collaborated on, with images by Leka and words by Vic, gnu inc
are releasing a very limited edition companion CD Live & Rare Vol 3 'VICLEKA', a mixture of live and recorded numbers. Some are
for inclusion in the VL boxes and the rest will only be available at gigs.........unless the gnu can be persuaded otherwise. Vic's looking forward to his visit to Serbia for the opening of the
exhibition at OZone Gallery Belgrade and gnu inc plans to release Live
& Rare Vol 3 'VICLEKA' on 10th July to coincide with the opening.
Background and more information: http://vicgodardandsubwaysect.blogspot.co.uk/p/vicleka.html
Gert has uploaded a couple of the songs from the cd to whet the appetite including 'Back In The Community' recorded by Lee McFadden at the Voodoo Rooms Edinburgh in 2012. Photograph of Vic and Murray Robertson by Tracey Holloway. ( if you go scroll back in blog time you'll find out a bit about this somewhat surreal night.......but not everything!)

APROPOS OF

Congratulations to Derek Philpott on getting to the finish line with his book 'Dear Mr Kershaw', how he got there is a story and a half in itself. Despite having to overcome just a few obstacles (you'll notice the title has changed!!) Derek's determination plus People Power has won the day. Looking forward to receiving my copy later this year. (The first edition of the book won't be on public sale) https://www.facebook.com/derek.philpott.1?fref=tshttp://www.wilfturnbull.co.uk/index.html

I love The Moomins and looking forward to seeing the new film The Moomins on the Riviera with music by Bjork, hope it is as true to the books of Tove Jansson and original series as reviews say and from the look of the trailer it is.

You don't often hear songs from Sansend so Gert uploaded one of her favourites 'Don't Take It All Out On Me' featuring Chantelle Lamond on lead/backing vocals, Holly Cook on backing vocals and Phil Martin on violin.

People who are pedantic

Can be fussy and finicky

Pettifogging or pernickety

But never corybantic*

* When I looked this word up it turned out to have quite a tale to tell. Corybantic definition - being in the spirit or manner of a Corybant (see below), ie wild, frenzied as in:

Origin - Mid 17th century, first known use 1642 - from Corybantes, Latin name of the wild attendant priests of the goddess Cybele, the great Phrygian Mother of the Gods, a primal nature goddess
worshipped with orgiastic rites and wild dancing in the mountains of central and western
Anatolia.http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cybele

Gallipoli Campaign - British Commonwealth and French troops struggled and failed to take the peninsula between February 19, 1915 and January 9, 1916. It was one of the Allies great disasters in World
War One and that's saying something considering the others. Video below is Liam Clancy with ' The Band Played Waltzing Matilda'http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwari/p/gallipoli.htm

Gnu Inc Vic Godard 7"
I'll Find Out Over Time and Dead Dreamy
Recording in a couple of months and hope to have out by the end of the year.

Marc Riley session! Keep a look out for updates.

This and That

Cheeky Beggars - An example of a cheeky beggar is someone who says they are writing a book and then proceed to ask you to contribute "only about 400 words". Does collating and editing other people's words make you an author? Not in my book, excuse the pun.

I didn't know what this curious plant growing in the drive was until one of Vic's FB friends enlightened me. It is Horsetail and although poisonous to horses and some other animals it has many health benefits for humans and is eaten as a spring vegetable in Japan.
Thanks to Maresuke Tanaka for the recipe.Ingredients Horsetail Soy sauce (to taste)I tablespoon Olive Oil50cc Water

1. Rinse horsetail briefly2.Heat the olive oil (you can substitute vegetable oil or similar) in a frying pan, add the horsetail and fry on medium heat. 3. Add the water and fry until it evaporates4. Add soy sauce to taste